Heavens Fall (2006)

So much average

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I loved this movie, the acting, the story, the injustice. In fact I was so moved that I decided to learn more about the true case. Then something strange happened, upon reading the actual court testimony and uncovering the actual facts, these guys looked awful guilty to me.The movie would have you believe that trial after trial ended with conviction solely because of white prejudice. While it is true that there was a lynch mob, and far more prejudice in the south back then than now, the facts of the case totally justify why jury after jury found these men guilty. The only valid point made by the defense was that the jury was all white (which is why this case got national attention). The movie fails to mention that the national attention came at the funding of the Communist party who exploited the all white jury to make it seem like the defendants were getting an unfair trial. The movie also didn't mention that Ruby Bates was very well taken care of by the Communist party to recant her testimony.If you don't believe me, read the trial transcripts for yourself. You will see that these girls gave amazing details when describing how they were raped and who raped them. The most damning forensic evidence was that the girl's vaginas were loaded with sperm (far more than from one man). While the sperm was found to be non-motile (as in the movie) the movie insinuated that sperm can remain motile for up to 24 hours; when in reality vaginal sperm will remain motile for two to three hours (six hours in some very rare cases).It also didn't make sense that Victoria Price would stick to her story until her dying day when it was obvious that Ruby didn't change her story until paid off and instructed to do so by the Communist party. In fact shortly after the trial Ruby remained in a life of luxury, supported by the Communist party. The movie would also have you believe that Ruby Bates fought for the release of these boys for the rest of her life due to sheer guilt. However, the facts bear out that Ruby Bates did so as an active member of the International Labor Defense campaign and used the trials publicity to help promote Communist rhetoric.The movie was great, but a more accurate portrayal of the truth (rather than a politically correct con game) would have been more appreciated.

Nothing spectacular about this movie. The actors played their parts as though they were there just for the money. The good thing about the movie was how it portrayed the bigot and racial hatred practiced by our fine USA citizens. And, went on as though their lies were the truth and with the conviction that no one could prove their lies to be false and prejudicial. I cannot say more about this movie and I yet do not have enough information to meet the required amount of sentences for the IMDb. So the rest of my presentation will be meaningless jargon. You may stop reading at any point. Mary had a little lamb. It's fleece was white as snow.

this film is awesome, the story is breathtaking, the actors wonderful. I saw it at the Midwest Screening and the theater was completely spellbound. It has the heart and soul of "To Kill a Mockingbird". The scenery is so beautiful and interesting. The storyline is inspiring. No wonder Timothy Hutton chose to take this role, his character is smart, courageous and in this current political climate he is a hero for us. The rest of the cast wonderful, realistic and also multidimensional. The historical representation is authentic and yet very creative. You leave the movie inspired. What more can you ask for? Thank you for making such a thoughtful and entertaining film!! I know it will go far.

I had the pleasure of seeing the world premiere of Heavens Fall at the Austin's Paramount Theatre as part of the SXSW film festival. It is a powerful film about the great injustices that occurred during the infamous Scottsboro trial of nine black men accused of raping two white women in Alabama in the 1930s.While this story has been told before in a 1976 NBC TV movie, Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (which I haven't seen and which I suspect would be pretty difficult, if not impossible to find on VHS or DVD today) and more recently in the powerful PBS documentary, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, it's a story worth telling again for each new generation.A film like recent Best Picture winner, Crash, reminds us that racism still exists in our society today. A film like Heavens Fall provides historical context and reminds us of the slow progress that has been made since the days of the Jim Crow South. This film reminds me of other recent films that have reminded us of some of the other tragic episodes of past racism such as Mississippi Burning, Amistad, and, particularly, the marvelous film, Rosewood. As with all films of this genre, some events and characters have been fictionalized in an attempt to capture of the spirit of the story rather than all of the detail.Heavens Fall features first-rate performances by Timothy Hutton as the Jewish New York lawyer who travels to Alabama to defend the 9 black men, David Strathairn as the the trial judge, and Bill Sage as the prosecutor. The movie moves a bit slowly. The lead characters, including the prosecutor, are presented as human beings taking away from the stereotyping of white southerners which is quite easy in this type of film. It's occasionally a little predictable and clichéd - something almost unavoidable with this genre. Ironically, I think that more could have been done to develop the African-American characters. The accused are not really presented in great depth and the one black character, a journalist, seems a bit extraneous to the plot of the story. Still, basically a good job is done in presenting the main characters as human beings struggling for truth and justice as they define it in a highly imperfect world.At our world premiere screening, the director and many of the actors were present and spoke about the making of the film. Timmothy Hutton was unable to attend, but as the director and other actors were speaking to the audience, Hutton phoned into to the director's cell phone to receive loud cheers from the audience and answer a few questions via cellphone to microphone. The film was clearly a labor of love by the director and actors. I hope that it finds a distributor and is seen widely, because Americans need to see the realities of their history in order to learn from it.